Christmas tree recycling

[BrandNewGuy]

After last year's uncertainty about the council's policy for collecting Christmas trees, I checked the council website and this is what it says (cached, at any rate - the page itself was unreachable):

Please recycle your real Christmas tree once you're finished with it. Simply remove all decorations including any pot or stand and do one of the following:

if you have a food and garden waste collection, real Christmas trees can be collected as part of your garden waste subscription collection - simply leave it by your bin on collection day, please note that trees over 6 foot long should be cut in half

if you do not receive a food or garden waste collection, email [email protected] stating your name and full address to request a real Christmas collection - then leave your Christmas tree for collection outside your property at ground floor level in a place that does not cause an obstruction to pedestrians or vehicles, please note that trees over 6 foot long should be cut in half

if you live on an estate or in a block of flats, leave your real Christmas tree by the bin areas or bulky waste collection areas, please make sure your tree is easily accessible and not behind a locked gate or in a bin store

alternatively book a permit and bring you real Christmas trees and plastic Christmas trees to the Reuse and Recycling centre on Devon Street (off old Kent Road)

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/christmas-tree-recycling

Not sure how widely this has been publicised - most people seem to be just leaving them next to their bins as in previous years.

[Spartacus]

I'm confused

The statement "if you have a food and garden waste collection, real Christmas trees can be collected as part of your garden waste subscription collection" implies you need to have paid the annual fee for garden waste to be removed.

Like a lot of people, what if you haven't and only have food waste collected, will you need to book a collection or will your tree be picked up regardless ?

It's a bit vague and maybe a local councillor can advise !

[sue k]

i heard on BBC radio london, that apparently you can offer your christmas trees to local city farms,( for a small donation for pickup) if they have goats, as they love eating them!! much better than just discarding on the street .. i nearly tripped over one that was sprawled across the pavement yesterday..abandoned xmas trees always look so sad

[BrandNewGuy]

Spartacus, I think it means that if you don't have a garden waste subscription, you can still get it picked up for free as long as you email them with your details... otherwise it won't get picked up.

[Spartacus]

BrandNewGuy Wrote:

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> Spartacus, I think it means that if you don't have

> a garden waste subscription, you can still get it

> picked up for free as long as you email them with

> your details... otherwise it won't get picked up.

If that's the case, and I'm not doubting it, the council needs to clarify it on the information it puts out otherwise confusion will reign and tree abandonment issues will be the chaotic result.

[BrandNewGuy]

In truth, to my knowledge they haven't put out any information ? I had to go and find it. In previous years the info has been included on the Xmas/New Year collections leaflet, which I didn't receive this time around.

[jim_the_chin]

I emailed Wednesday, got (I hope) an auto/scheduled response last night at 23:30 saying it could take 10 days to collect.

[Earl Aelfheah]

That messaging from the council is so confused.

[kiera]

The council emptied the brown bins in my road this week as usual, but left all the Christmas trees. Perhaps they don't have enough room in the vehicle to take so many in one week.

[KidKruger]

Why throw the trees away when many of them are still proud and healthy ?!

They look great, all lit-up, don?t they ?

Ours will be up until March I reckon.

Happy Xmas !!

[BrandNewGuy]

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> That messaging from the council is so confused.

Really? If you have a food/garden waste collection, leave it out for the binmen. If you don't have a food/garden waste collection, email [email protected] stating your name and full address to request a Christmas tree collection - then leave your Christmas tree for collection outside your property at ground floor level in a place that does not cause an obstruction to pedestrians or vehicles.

[muffins78]

We have two subscriptions and our trees have been out over two weeks now and not been collected - our garden bins were empty! Thanks for sharing the news approach for the tree collection, we have not received a response yet!

[Penguin68]

If your trees are over 6ft (one bin guy told me the H&S limit was 5 ft) they may not take them unless sawn in half. Our guys sort-of ignored that ruling, but some crews may be more sticklers. I cut my tree up and put it in my garden bin anyway, no problems seeing it go.

Do remember that an un-binned tree could have come from anywhere - so the binmen cannot be certain it is a garden collection household's tree. And they do fill the lorries up.

[Sue]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> Why throw the trees away when many of them are

> still proud and healthy ?!

> They look great, all lit-up, don?t they ?

> Ours will be up until March I reckon.

> Happy Xmas !!

KK, don't you know it's unlucky to leave decorations up after Twelfth Night?

:)) :)) :))

Mind you, there's nearly always something somewhere in the house which I forget to take down (not this year I don't think :)) )

[TheCropolite]

A lot of people just seem to throw them on to the pavement and let nature take its course....

[KidKruger]

🤣🤣Sue

We make our own ?luck? !

We do it every year - chuck the tree when it?s failing.

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> KidKruger Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Why throw the trees away when many of them are

> > still proud and healthy ?!

> > They look great, all lit-up, don?t they ?

> > Ours will be up until March I reckon.

> > Happy Xmas !!

>

>

> KK, don't you know it's unlucky to leave

> decorations up after Twelfth Night?

>

> :)) :)) :))

>

> Mind you, there's nearly always something

> somewhere in the house which I forget to take down

> (not this year I don't think :)) )

[Clutterqueen]

So glad I put my plastic tree back up in the loft on 12th night ready to bring out again next year.

Can't believe that people are complaining about Southwark needing to take away their Christmas trees, especially in this day and age of recycling and when there's so much else going on.

[Sue]

Clutterqueen Wrote:

---------------------------------------------------

>

> Can't believe that people are complaining about

> Southwark needing to take away their Christmas

> trees, especially in this day and age of recycling

Southwark recycle the trees. The clue is in the title of the thread.

They use them as compost and chippings in parks.

[muffins78]

Yes not complaining- just trying to figure out next steps seeing as the process has appeared to change - without us realising :) Southwarks waste team have been fantastic throughout the pandemic

[Clutterqueen]

Maybe you could chop up the tree yourself and use it as compost as Sue suggests.

[OutOfFocus]

I have a Christmas tree on my allotment that predates me (2 years). I decided it might get too big. Some of it looks compostable but trunk andsome branches are too woody.

[Rockets]

I suspect many are not aware of the new rules and process to get them collected as many of the streets of East Dulwich resemble medieval Christmas tree burial grounds.

[hpsaucey]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> KidKruger Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Why throw the trees away when many of them are

> > still proud and healthy ?!

> > They look great, all lit-up, don?t they ?

> > Ours will be up until March I reckon.

> > Happy Xmas !!

>

>

> KK, don't you know it's unlucky to leave

> decorations up after Twelfth Night?

>

> :)) :)) :))

>

> Mind you, there's nearly always something

> somewhere in the house which I forget to take down

> (not this year I don't think :)) )

Apparently quite a modern tradition that one Sue so I'm reverting to older and assuming Candlemas is the new 12th night. Hurrah! We've also decided to celebrate Yule which goes on for 2 months instead of the stingy few days of Christmas. Bring on the lights, more mince pies and definitely wet January.

HP

[23e Heure]

Is anyone still waiting for Southwark Environmental services to collect their Christmas tree?

I followed the new process at start of January: submitted the request and a few days later got a ref number for the collection, and was told collection would be within 10 working days.

I've followed up every couple of weeks, had one note of apology end of January saying this would get sorted, but since then all my subsequent emails are simply ignored.

This is not a "bitch about Southwark council email"!

It is intended more as light-hearted competition to see who has waited the longest for their tree to get collected!

Meanwhile I'm wondering why I personally didn't just do what most of my neighbours did: simply dump their trees in the street under dead of night, and see them cleaned up by the council within a few days :lol:

[KidKruger]

We?re taking ours down soon, so will probably cut it into bits and take it to the dump.